House May Revive MLR Bill, Rep. Blackburn Says

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., vice chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee today told the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) to keep its eye on her committee and the Ways and Means Committee for action this year on health-reform policy-change initiatives, including a revival of the medical-loss ratio (MLR) bill. 

The dormant bill, H.R. 1206, which sundowned with the last Congressional session after it passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee, would exempt agent commissions from the MLR calculated under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The MLR provision limits administrative costs in health-insurance premiums to 15 percent of premiums for large insurance groups and 20 percent for small groups. H.R. 1206 stipulates that agent commissions would not count toward these administrative costs.